Vented panel



P 5 1957 T. v. HAWKINS ET AL 3,315,585

VENTED PANEL Filed May 5, 1965 JEROME W SCHUTT AND THOMAS V. HAWK/NS INVENTORS' 'lawnsend lownsend United States Patent Ofiiice 3,315,585 Patented Apr. 25, 1967 3,315,535 VENTED PANEL Thomas V. Hawkins, San Francisco, and Jerome W. Schutt, Sacramento, Califi, assignors to Airconstic Company, Inc., San Francisco, Calif.

Filed May 3, 1965, Ser. No. 452,833 3 Claims. (Cl. 98-40) I This invention relates to vented false ceilings and wall panels defining a space between the panel or false ceiling and the true ceiling or wall for heating or cooling the useable portion of the room as desired, and more particularly to the ventilators employed in such false ceilings or panels to control selectively the air flow through desired portions of the room.

A main object of this invention is to provide an improved panel, which may be of the type employed to provide acoustic insulation for example, having a plurality .of vents disposed in a preselected arrangement in the panel to provide desired air circulation through the vents, each vent including means operable from the usable portion of the room to control the air flow therethrough.

One of the disadvantages of vented panels or vented false ceilings disclosed in the prior is the difficulty in operating the means to control the air flow through the vents. For example, United States Patent No. 3,159,090, issued to Jerome W. Schutt and assigned to the assignee of the present invention discloses closure elements which are mounted on the vents by flexible straps and which are operated from the portion of the room above the false ceiling or panel with the obvious inherent limitations and difliculty in operation after the ceiling or panel has been installed in place.

Accordingly, another object of this invention is to provide an improved panel, which may be employed as a false ceiling, including a plurality of ventsselectively predisposed in the panel and which may be operated from the usable portion of the room below the false ceiling. To this end, each vent includes a top flange and a sealing cup rotatably mounted on the flange to engage the vent sleeve constituting the body of the vent and seal the air passage provided by the vent. The cup has an appendix or leg integrally formed thereon and which is easily accessible from the room below the panel through the opening defined by the vent sleeve. Thus, by engaging the leg of the cup through the vent sleeve, the cup may be rotated from open to closed position, while the closure cup may be rotated from closed to open position by merely pushing upwards against the closure cup through the vent sleeve.

In addition, the leg of the cup is made of a predetermined length to restrict the rotation of the sealing cup in its disengaged or open position thereby facilitating the operation to control the air flow through the vent. Moreover, the pressure exerted by the air above the panel, once the cup is rotated to a predetermined angle relative to the plane of the panel, is suflicient to close the vent by itself. 7

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In describing the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a false ceiling comprising an improved vented panel incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the vents in accordance with the present invention with the associated closure cup in open position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the associated closure cup in its closed position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, partly in cross section of a fragmentary portion of the ceiling panel shown in FIG. 1, incorporating the invention, including a vent in accordance with the present invention with the associated closure cup in closed position and with the open position shown in phantom;

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view, similar to FIG. 4, of a vent element illustrating an alternate embodiment of the invention with the closure element'removed; and

FIG. 6 is a top view of a ventilator element illustrative of another embodiment in accordance with the invention also with the closure element removed.

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein a vented panel 11, which may be employed to provide acoustic insulation for example, is illustrated. The panel 11 may be employed as a false ceiling, or as a drop ceiling as it is sometimes called, to define an air flow space 12 between the panel 11 and the true ceiling thereabove. The space 12 is used for conveying air for heating or cooling the subjacent enclosure 10, which constitutes the occupied portion .of the room. The ceiling panel 11 is preferably made of fibrous, light weight, durable material such as ceiling board for example. To provide the desired ventilation, the panel 11 is provided with a plurality of upwardly opening frusto-conical vent apertures having the largest diameter corresponding to the top surface of the ceiling panel and with a vent or nozzle 13 positioned in each aperture to control the air circulation in the room in a desired manner.

Each of the vents 13 comprises a hollow, frusto-conical vent sleeve 14 defining a passageway and which tapers inward downwardly as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example. The vent 13 is provided at its upper end with an outwardly projecting annular flange 15 which as shown in FIG. 4 is integrally formed therewith and the lower surface 17 of which engages the top surface of the ceiling panel 11. The vent sleeve 14 is made of a smooth material preferably of a suitable high density plastic such as high density polyethylene for example, and is designed to be inserted in a tapered conical aperture in a close fit, as shown in FIG. 4.

A closure cup element 19 which may be frusto-conical as shown in FIG. 2 for example, or generally cylindrical as desired, is rotatably mounted on the flange 15 to open or close the passageway provided through the sleeve 14 as shown respectively in FIGS. 2 and 3. To this end, a pivot rod 16 is integrally formed with the closure cup element 19, and rotatably mounted on brackets 18 which are in turn mounted on the top surface 21 of the flange 15. The pivot rod 16 is pivoted in brackets 18 at a position spaced above the top surface 17 of the flange 15. The plan projection of the rod 16 onto the top of the vent sleeve is a chord which cuts across the opening in the top of the sleeve. This construction provides access at 22 between the rod 16 and the arcuate portion of the sleeve subtended by the rod to the top surface of the closure cup member when the closure cup is in open position. In this manner, an upward force may be applied to a lever arm 20, integrally formed on the top surface of the cup element 19, to rotate the closure cup 19 around the axis provided by the pivot rod 16 from the open-vent position shown in FIG. 2 to the closed-vent position illustrated in FIG. 3. Such a force is applied to the lever arm 20 by means external to the nozzle 13, such as a stick or a hook member (not shown) for example, and which is inserted through the sleeve 14 and through the space 22 provided between the cup 19 and the pivot rod 16 when the closure cup 19 is in its open-vent position to control the position of the closure cup 19 from a place within the enclosure 10. Applying such a force to the lever V in its open-vent position, arm 20 from the passageway may be varied surface of the flange V "14 provide the means to, receive 19 to seal ofi the air passageways defined by the sleeves."

stallation in any standard suspended arm 20 causes a certain rotation of the closure cup eleing panel 11 from its original open position the air pressure exerted on the top surface of the closure cup 19 V by the air flowing in the space defined between the ceiling panel 11 and the true ceiling and the weight of the closure cup 19 is sufficiently great to cause complete engagement of the cup 19 within the sleeve 14;

7 Also, in order to facilitate closing the air vent 13, the closure cup element 19 is integrally formed with the pivot rod 16 through a sector element 23 that displaces the cup element 19 sufliciently away from the rod 16 to permit engagement of the sleeve 14 and the closure cup element 19 during the closed-vent position described above. In addition, such a displacement shifts the center of gravity of the closure cup-pivot rod structure towards the center of the opening defined by the sleeve 14 in the direction of the rotation from the open-vent to the closedvent positions described above, which further facilitates the closing operation once the rotation is begun.

The length of the leg 20 is selected to restrict the rotation of the closure'cup 19 from its closed-vent position shown in FIG. 3 to the open-vent position shown in FIG. -'4, so that the space 22 defined between the closure cup 19 and the edge of the sleeve 14 when the closurecup is permits easy access to the lever 14 While causing the closure cup 19 to present a small area to the air flow through the space 12 in either direcdefined by the vent sleeve tion to prevent the air from closing the vent 13 before 'it' is so desired. I

A number of the vent openings may be closed off or opened as desired to obtain selective air circulation between the spaces 10 and 12'defined by the false ceiling 11; ..The amount of venting in selected areasnof the enclosure 10 may be easily varied and controlled by selecdesired number of the vents tively closing or opening a provided in the particular panel. The arrangement of the vents in a given panel is selected in accordance with the maximum requirements of the enclosure 10 with which the panel is employed, and the venting from the space 12 by closing off an appropriate number of vents as described above. It'should be noted that the v 15 rests flatly on the top surface of the. panel 11 thus preventing downward sliding of the vents. In addition, the close in of the vent sleeve 14 in its corresponding vent opening, and the air pressure exerted on the top 15 by air flow through the space 12 aid in preventing such a downward sliding of the vents V 13 through the vent apertures.

The high density plastic sleeves 14, inserted in the frusto-conical holes formed in the ceiling panel 11, retain the loosened fibers at the inside surfaces of the vent holes thus maintaining the size and shape of. the vent apertures which would otherwise be distorted by the passage of air therethrough. The loosened fibers are vention are drilled straight through the panel. It is desirable, however, that the ventilator elements be pressure fitted within the apertures, and to this end the vent sleeve must be formed with an outer wall of corresponding shape and dimension, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

A vent 30 illustrative of an alternate embodiment of the invention, solves the problem described above. by making the vent sleeve 32 with a substantially cylindrical wall 36. Thus, close fit engagement of the sleeve 32 and 7 straight through drilling a e in FIG. 2, but which is not shown ofsimplicity'of illustration.-

' appropriate vent aperture. To this end, the outer 'wall 36 is reduced in diameter at the desired height without altering the inner wall 34. By offsetting the sleeve 32, a flat shoulder is formed so that its lower surface engages the top surface of the panel to prevent motion of the vent 30 relative to the panel in the direction of flow of the air jet.

Reference is now made to.

which illustrates a vent FIG; 6' of the drawings,

As shown in FIG. 6, the vent 40'comprises-a vent sleeve 42 defining an air passagewaysubstantially elongated in cross section to provide a slot opening. The sleeve 42 is;

tapered inward-downwardly in accordance with well thus also prevented from filtering down into the enclosure I 10. Moreover, and as previously described, the sleeves the closure cup elements rating the present invention are made of materials which 7 are unsuitable for taper-drilling. venting apertures as described above. In such cases, in order to provide the desired ventilation through the panel, the apertures designed to contain'the ventilator elements incorporating the inknown principles in nozzle design to provide the desired 7 air jet. 7

vControl of the air flow through the sleeve, in accordance with the invention, is A A 7 not shown, shaped to engage air passageway through the vent.

to the manner described vented panel have been disclosed in the foregoing descrip tion, .it would be understood that various modifications within the jspirit of the invention skilled in the art.- Therefore, it is intended that no limimay occur to those tations be claimed on the invention except those defined" V by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed isz face and a pair of opposed ends; a flange securedto said sleeve and disposed in surrounding relationship to one of the open ends thereof, said sleeve adapted' to be posi- 1 tioned in said panel opening with said flange in proximity to one outer face of the panelga pair of spaced brackets.

mounted on and extending outwardly from said flangey'a pivot rod pivotally mounted atits ends on said brackets with the pivot rod spaced outwardlyfrom the flange, said brackets-being disposed to position the pivot rod in inter secting relationship to. said one open end of the' sleeve;

a closure secured to said pivot rod for pivotal movement .7

therewith, said closure being movable frornafirst posimou'n-ted on a flange 39, integrally 7 formed on the vent sleeve 32, and which is similar to the.

may be modified to fit in panels of the sleeve corresponcL' 40 embodying the invention. Sometimes it is desirable to provide'vented panels .with

7 area de- Such vents are equally suitable for the;

provided by a closure cup;

the sleeve 42 to sealofl the;

Such a closure cup is rotatably mounted on the flange 44, in a manner similar in connection with the closure cup 19, shown in FIG. 2. a 7, While certain specific embodiments of an improved tion permitting fluid flow through the sleeve to a second position blocking said fluid flow through the sleeve, said closure having an arm on the outer surface thereof for engaging the flange when the closure is in said first position to thereby limit the pivotal movement of the closure in one direction, said pivot rod being disposed to define a space between the pivot rod and the proximal portion of said one open end of the sleeve when the closure is in said first position whereby a moving member may be inserted into the sleeve from the opposite end thereof and can extend through said space into forcible engagement with one side of the closure to initiate the pivotal movement thereof from said first position toward its second position, the opposite side of the closure disposed to be forcibly engaged by said moving member when the closure is in said second position whereby the moving member may initiate the pivotal movement of the closure from the second position toward said first position.

2. A vent for a panel having an opening therethrough comprising: a sleeve having a pair of opposed, open ends and an end face and adapted to be positioned in said panel opening with said end face disposed at one side of the panel; a closure; and means pivotally mounting said closure on said end face of the sleeve for movement from an open position allowing fiuid flow through the sleeve to a closed position blocking fluid flow through the sleeve, said mounting means being disposed with its axis of pivoting movement in intersecting relationship to the open end thereof adjacent to said end face to define a space between said axis and a portion of the last-mentioned open end when said closure is in said open position for receiving a moving member inserted in said sleeve from the opposite side of the panel when the sleeve is inserted in said panel opening to thereby permit the closure to be forcibly engaged at a first location thereon by said moving member to initiate the movement of the closure from said open position toward said closed position, said closure in its closed position being disposed for forcible engagement at a second location thereon by said moving means to effect movement of the closure from said closed position toward said open position when the moving means is inserted into the sleeve from said opposite side of the panel, whereby the sleeve can be opened or closed from said opposite side of the panel.

3. A vent for a panel having an opening therethrough comprising: a sleeve having a pair of opposed, open ends and an end face and adapted to be positioned in said panel opening with said end face disposed at one side of the panel; a closure; and means pivotally mounting said closure on said end face of the sleeve for movement from an open position allowing fluid flow through the sleeve to a closed position blocking fluid flow through the sleeve, said mounting means being disposed with its axis of pivoting movement in intersecting relationship to the open end thereof adjacent to said end face to define a space between said axis and a portion of the last mentioned open end when said closure is in said open position for receiving a moving member inserted in said sleeve from the opposite side of the panel when the sleeve is inserted in said panel opening to permit the moving member to engage one side of the closure and thereby initiate movement of the latter from said open position toward said closed position, the opposite side of said closure adapted to be engaged by said moving member inserted in said sleeve from said opposite side of the panel when said closure is in said closed position and when the sleeve is in said panel opening to thereby allow the moving member to initate movement of the closure from said closed position toward said open position, whereby the sleeve can be opened or closed from said opposite side of the panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 197,543 11/1877 Carnes 251-298 X 1,743,293 1/ 1930 Toft 251299 X 1,902,456 3 193 3 Matthews 220-24 X 3,159,090 12/1964 Schutt 9840 MEYER PERLIN, Primary Examiner. ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner. W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A VENT FOR A WALL PANEL HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH COMPRISING: A LEEVE HAVING A CONICAL INNER SURFACE AND A PAIR OF OPPOSED ENDS; A FLANGE SECURED TO SAID SLEEVE AND DISPOSED IN SURROUNDING RELATIONSHIP TO ONE OF THE OPEN ENDS THEREOF, SAID SLEEVE ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED IN SAID PANEL OPENING WITH SAID FLANGE IN PROXIMITY TO ONE OUTER FACE OF THE PANEL; A PAIR OF SPACED BRACKETS MOUNTED ON AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID FLANGE; A PIVOT ROD PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT ITS ENDS ON SAID BRACKETS WITH THE PIVOT ROD SPACED OUTWARDLY FROM THE FLANGE, SAID BRACKETS BEING DISPOSED TO POSITION THE PIVOT ROD IN INTERSECTING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID ONE OPEN END OF THE SLEEVE; A CLOSURE SECURED TO SAID PIVOT ROD FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT THEREWITH, SAID CLOSURE BEING MOVABLE FROM A FIRST POSITION PERMITTING FLUID FLOW THROUGH THE SLEEVE TO A SECOND POSITION BLOCKING SAID FLUID FLOW THROUGH THE SLEEVE, SAID CLOSURE HAVING AN ARM ON THE OUTER SURFACE THEREOF FOR ENGAGING THE FLANGE WHEN THE CLOSURE IS IN SAID FIRST POSITION TO THEREBY LIMIT THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE CLOSURE IN ONE DIRECTION, SAID PIVOT ROD BEING DISPOSED TO DEFINE A SPACE BETWEEN THE PIVOT ROD AND THE PROXIMAL PORTION OF SAID ONE OPEN END OF THE SLEEVE WHEN THE CLOSURE IS IN SAID FIRST POSITION WHEREBY A MOVING MEMBER MAY BE INSERTED INTO THE SLEEVE FROM THE OPPOSITE END THEREOF AND CAN EXTEND THROUGH SAID SPACE INTO FORCIBLE ENGAGEMENT WITH ONE SIDE OF THE CLOSURE TO INITIATE THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT THEREOF FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TOWARD ITS SECOND POSITION, THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE CLOSURE DISPOSED TO BE FORCIBLY ENGAGED BY SAID MOVING MEMBER WHEN THE CLOSURE IS IN SAID SECOND POSITION WHEREBY THE MOVING MEMBER MAY INITIATE THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE CLOSURE FROM THE SECOND POSITION TOWARD SAID FIRST POSITION. 